Do you smell a little desperation here? In addition to distracting from the Obamacare train wreck, it’s almost as if President Obama and Harry Reid sense big trouble in 2014 and know they might not have time to put up with delays in court stacking next year.

Senate Democrats bowled over Republicans on Thursday to win approval for a highly controversial rule change which would limit the GOP’s ability to block nominees, in a move Republicans called a “raw power grab.”

“It’s a sad day in the history of the Senate,” Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said after the vote.

Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., moving quickly following days of speculation, used the so-called “nuclear option” to pass the change. Typically, major changes like this take 67 votes, but he did it with just a simple majority.
[…]
The vote on Thursday vastly reduces the power of the minority to stall nominations and makes it easier for federal judges to get lifetime appointments.

Check out all these Dems discussing the filibuster “nuclear option” when the Republicans controlled the Senate (including President Obama, who spoke earlier about his support for today’s vote):

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EkXjYohzAOY&w=420&h=315]

Today, Obama said that GOP filibusters aren’t based on substance and are just intended to “gum up the works.” Naturally Obama and the Dems take it upon themselves to decide what exactly constitutes “substance.”